Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study

Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw)
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2018
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613606047121408
access_status_str Open Access
author2 Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw)
author_browse Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw)
author_facet Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw)
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2018 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/66021
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:49.043Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
publishDateSort 2018
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/66021 Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw) Pattinson, Robert Clive Khamker, Nadira UCTD Perinatal mental health Postpartum psychiatric disorders Maternal mental health Life-threatening pregnancy complications Psychiatric sequelae Health sciences theses SDG-03 Health sciences theses SDG-17 Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. Introduction Studies in the literature indicate that women are vulnerable to develop psychiatric conditions during the perinatal period. Mental health is a neglected topic and that of women’s mental health to a greater extent, with limited attention paid to these women in the South African public health sector. Furthermore, maternal mortality persists as a major public health problem in developing countries, despite global initiatives and strategies aimed at improving maternal health and decreasing mortality. An improvement in maternal health can ensue if together with a decrease in the number of maternal deaths, a reduction in the complications during pregnancy and the postpartum period occurs. Recognition and treatment of severe complications are important as they can have an adverse effect on women’s health not only from a biological but a psychosocial perspective too. The study set out to determine whether women who experience severe life-threatening stressors during pregnancy are more vulnerable to develop psychiatric complications and what are their lived experiences after discharge from hospital? Methods A mixed-method study conducted at two hospitals in Pretoria, South Africa consisted of two arms, a qualitative and a quantitative arm executed in a parallel convergent manner. Data collection occurred concurrently and merging of the data occurred at the level of interpretation. Two groups of participants namely women who experienced life-threatening complications and those with uneventful pregnancies were selected and interviewed at fourtime intervals namely, shortly after delivery, at six weeks, three months and six months postpartum. The quantitative arm consisted of completion of Level 1, symptom appropriate Level 2 cross-cutting symptoms measures and a WHO Disability Assessment. The qualitative arm consisted of in-depth semi-structured interviews of sixteen participants who were purposefully sampled to obtain maximum variation and richness of information. Results A total of eighty-nine women participated in the study. (Forty-six of whom were women with life-threatening complications and forty-three were women with uneventful pregnancies.) Women with life-threatening complications were more vulnerable to develop psychiatric sequelae and presented with a greater variation in their levels of functioning as compared to women with uneventful pregnancies. Psychiatric sequelae included major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, somatic symptoms, and cognitive impairments; sleep disturbances, anger, psychotic disorders and substance abuse. Common themes identified from the lived experiences included amongst others, feelings of inadequacy, guilt, loss and disappointment, fear of rejection, abandonment, and infidelity and feelings of anger. Conclusion Women in the present study were not only susceptible to risk that predisposed them to develop postpartum psychiatric complications, but also experienced life-threatening complications. These women displayed resilience in that they were able to adapt despite experiencing severe stressors and adversity. The women displayed acceptance, a will to survive and cope as well as strong belief and unwavering faith in God. em2026 School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) PhD Unrestricted SDG-03: Good health and well-being SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals 2018-07-30T09:05:42Z 2018-07-30T09:05:42Z 2018 2018 Thesis Khamker, N 2018, Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66021> S2018 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66021 en © 2018 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Perinatal mental health
Postpartum psychiatric disorders
Maternal mental health
Life-threatening pregnancy complications
Psychiatric sequelae
Health sciences theses SDG-03
Health sciences theses SDG-17
Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study
title Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study
title_full Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study
title_fullStr Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study
title_full_unstemmed Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study
title_short Psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life-threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies : an explorative-descriptive study
title_sort psychiatric sequelae and mental health aftercare experiences in women who had a life threatening complication in pregnancy and those with uncomplicated pregnancies an explorative descriptive study
topic UCTD
Perinatal mental health
Postpartum psychiatric disorders
Maternal mental health
Life-threatening pregnancy complications
Psychiatric sequelae
Health sciences theses SDG-03
Health sciences theses SDG-17
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66021